Saturday
by Aleka
Summary: This is basically a rip off of The Breakfast Club, as it takes place at school on a Saturday. The sketchy premises of the story is simply this: four childhood friends have grown up and drifted apart, until one day, a chinchilla gets loose.
1. For a Girl

**AN: So, I used to be a whore, and then I became a Canadian Idol slash whore, and now, after like..a year, I've decided that I miss writing about heterosexuality, and therefore have begun this little treat. The title is from the song "Saturday" by Hedley (mmm it's good, if you want it, I will find a way to yousendit to you). So yeah, I don't anything, not really even the title, and if I did own any boys I don't think I'd be on the computer right now. Enjoy please and I like feedback a lot. **

"I don't want to see you again, Chambers."

Chris nodded, his eyes down and locked on a scuff mark on his weathered sneakers. His nod was apologetic. He was sorry. How selfish of him to make this man take time out of his day to unload anger upon him that really just needed a scapegoat and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Chris was failing Biology.

Bullshit always brought out his sarcastic side.

"Between you and me, kid, can I just ask you something? You've wasted so much of my time already. Why do you even bother coming?"

Chris looked at his teacher, Mr. Broderick--a spectacled, grey-haired man so fat that he looked pregnant--and the calm, patient blue that usually glazed over his eyes when he was being berated turned into annoyed darkness. This man wouldn't understand that Chris Chambers really had a home life that was not unlike the rumours; his life wasn't just a shallow two-dimensional story, it was rounded and real and littered with supporting evidence. He wouldn't understand that when you take into consideration all the time he had to spend protecting his mom and his siblings, and getting the shit beat out of him, and cleaning up after his father, there wasn't much leeway for studying Mendel's laws of heredity.

"I'll pull up my marks, Sir," Chris said, amazed at how he was able to utter a word like _sir_ to someone who was so beneath him.

"I'm sure you will, Chambers. And I bet you'll grow up and be a successful lawyer or rocket scientist too," Broderick sneered and he wasn't smiling but Chris could tell how much he was enjoying this. "If you don't pass the quiz on Monday, I'll have you removed. Does that make any sense at all to you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. You can go," he said dismissively, as if he didn't damn well know that he'd made Chris miss his bus and he was going to be late getting home and old Mr. Chambers didn't take kindly to tardiness.

"Thanks," Chris murmured, and gathered his tattered notebook in his arms and briskly walked out of the stifling classroom. He felt warm and ill and dizzy and sunken; he was worthless treasure and everyone knew it. As he entered the empty hallway, his clammy grip lost hold of his books and he watched, helplessly accepting, as it fell to the ground. Loose pages flittered everywhere. He swore softly under his breath, because he didn't feel like he'd be able to get up off the floor if he were to get any lower right at that moment.

But he didn't have to stoop down. A blur of eager chestnut assaulted his tired gaze, and suddenly his notebook was back in his hands. Startled, he looked at the person who had picked it up for him and all he could think of to say was "um."

It was one of those girls that guys don't look at and think, "Ooh! A girl!" This was Elena Lefevbre, a brilliant junior in his twelfth grade biology class. She was sort of tall, or at least nose-high to him, and she was soft-spoken but she still answered questions in class, and she wasn't fat but she wasn't really thin either. She was the type of girl that you forget about a year after graduation; the girl that you've never nodded or smiled at in the hallway. Average doesn't make anyone smile.

Right now, her speckled green eyes were flittering to the ground and up to his face in this sort of nervous, apologetic brush of kindness. "Notebooks are slippery," she explained with a shrug.

If Chris had any smiles left in his heart at that point, he would have used the last of them up on her right then. "I guess so," he agreed. "Thanks. Your name is Elena, right?"

She nodded. Girls who spend their high school days being ignored nod and shrug a lot. Somewhere along the way, they learn that it's best to just accept the fact that no one is ever going to ask them anything that will require more an answer more than a simple gesture.

Chris instantly felt bad. "Actually," he blurted. "I knew what your name was so I don't know why I acted like I only kind of knew. Sorry if I just made you feel, like...unnoticed or something. I don't know why I did that. I think maybe it was like a rhetorical question that backfired, maybe."

She smiled, and he'd never known before that she had dimples. "It's okay."

"Good. Anyway. Elena. What are you doing here? Elena."

"That's really not necessary," she laughed. "I'm just here to get the key to the science lab, actually. I was thinking that I was going to do a project for extra credit and Mr. Broderick said that I could come in on Saturday to work on it."

"Wow." Chris considered this thoughtfully. "He must really trust you. If I were to be like 'hello, Mr. Broderick, I would like to better my education, please hand over your keys,' he would say 'Like hell, Chambers, I know your type. You'd steal all of the copper II sulphate to make crack so you can import it to Venezuela.' That's entirely false, of course."

"Yeah, who sells crack in Venezuela?" she scoffed.

"Yeah, I'd hit China. All those fat little Buddhists already have a history of drug addiction. What with the whole Opium War thing. They'd be an easy target. It would be like selling candy to a baby."

"You're supposed to _steal_ candy from babies. Not _sell_."

"Elena, I don't steal from the Chinese." He gave her a serious look. "Chinese are our _friends._"

Elena grinned. "Sorry." Then she grimaced all of a sudden, and her gaze went back to the ground, just as Chris was getting used to the way the flourescent lights above made the flecks of blue dance a little more wildly in her eyes. "Hey, um, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear--umm, let me start over. I couldn't help but eavesdrop when Mr. Broderick was talking to you in there."

"It's okay," Chris said, finding it as easy as always to feign indifference. "I'm used to my stupidity being put on display."

"You're not stupid," she argued. "I don't think you are. Obviously you aren't. I mean...I don't know. I don't think you're stupid at all, Chris."

"Really," he chuckled incredulously.

"Yes," she said back firmly. "In fact, I think it would be really awesome if you were to show everyone how unstupid you are."

"Unstupid's not a word."

"Very perceptive," she praised. "Anyway, I can help you ace the quiz on Monday. I mean...if you want. Like if you don't want my help, that's cool; I'm sure you could do it yourself, it's not like you're _stupid_ or anything, so--"

"I'd like your help, Elena," he said, steadying her.

"Not just to shut me up?"

"No." He shrugged. "Well, maybe 20 to shut you up."

"Okay," she said eagerly, and it made Chris a little sad to know that this smile of hers went ignored more often than it lit up the lives she past by. "Are you free tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but you're doing that thing here," he reminded her.

"Just come to the school. I'll work on some study packages tonight and go through them with you tomorrow and while you work on them, I'll work on my project."

"Umm, I don't think any kind of authority is going to let me within ten feet of school on a Saturday."

"You'll be with me. I'll tell them that you're my guinea pig and I need you for my experiment."

"That should work," Chris said, and then raised an eyebrow. "That's not true, right? I'm not into experimentation. I have limits. I certainly don't get kinky at school on Saturdays."

She blushed and shook her head. "I'll see you tomorrow. Meet me outside by the bike rack at nine, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks." He suddenly found himself smiling. "You make _study packages_ on Friday nights?"

"I will for you," she replied, tossing a look over her shoulder before she entered the biology room. A tendril of her hair curled up against her rosy cheek as her eyes breezed over him and she disappeared out of his sight.

Feeling a lot like smiling, Chris stuck his notebook under his arm and jammed his hands in his pockets. As he walked down the hallway, his steps had a shuffling, carefree rhythm to them, and he didn't really care that he was late or that there wasn't any music. Sweetness was a rareity for Chris Chambers, and when he came across it, he couldn't stop it from making him uncharacteristically cheerful. If he wanted to walk like a clown or grin like a Cheshire cat with no ulterior motives, then he was going to, and he didn't care who happened to be walking down the hallway at the same time.

Speaking of which, walking the opposite way down the same hallway at the same time was Gordie Lachance. Well, he was moreso half running, half skipping. "Chris!" he blurted, skidding to a stop upon seeing his best friend.

"Hi, Gordie," Chris said nonchalantly. "Who forgot to tell me it was Skip Like the Sugar Plum Fairy Day today?"

"Go to hell, retard," Gordie laughed breathlessly. "I think I'm in love."

"Oh, man. Gordo, I keep telling you, your mom's kinda pretty for a mom but you _can't_. Think of her as an artifact in a museum. While some artifacts are very interesting and fascinating, they are not for touching, because it is illegal, and also you shouldn't mess with history. Do you understand?"

"Okay, hold that thought," Gordie said, a murderous glint in his eyes. "Just let me lead you outside into traffic."

"Traffic? Oh, you mean the chuckwagon and the random house cat?" Chris nodded. "Let's go."

"Eff you. I was trying to tell you a story."

"'Eff' me? Who says that?" Chris snorted.

"I'm trying to get into the habit of not swearing, okay?" Gordie snapped. "There's this, girl, Chris, I'm serious, and I'm freaking out a little bit."

"Really? I couldn't tell by the grip of death you've got on my arm."

"Shut upppppp," he whined. "She's gorgeous, man. You don't even know. And I think I just did something stupid."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"I just joined student council."

Chris exploded into laughter. Knee-slapping, head-tossed-back giggles. Gordie stared at him while he cackled loudly, patiently waiting for the momentary lapse of sanity to pass. Finally, Chris' giggles turned into snickers, and the snickers subsided into shudders of glee. "Oh?" he managed to ask.

"Oh," Gordie confirmed.

"What for?"

"The girl."

"No girl is worth student council."

"This one is," Gordie insisted. "I ran into her carrying all of these art supplies and shit down to the home ec room so that she could work on making posters for Spirit Week next week, so I helped her out because I thought she'd be impressed by and grateful for my brawn."

"_Brawn,_" Chris laughed.

"Shut up, I'm not done yet!" Gordie sighed, and then went on with his story. "Okay, so I help her carry her shit and then she's like 'You know, we could really use someone like you to help with Spirit Week.' And so _I_ was like 'You could use someone like me? What's someone like me _like_?' and she was like 'Useful.'"

"Oh God," Chris giggled.

"One more outburst from you and you will die," Gordie promised. "So I told her that I'd love to give her a hand--"

"In her pants."

"Once I'm done talking, I'm going to kill you, just so you know." He shook his head. "So tomorrow morning at eight-thirty AM, I'm coming _here _to the _school_. On a _Saturday_. To paint posters and put up crepe paper. For a girl."

"Well, you've always been a little crazy, Gordie," Chris told him sympathetically. "Hey, but guess what. I'm going to be here tomorrow too."

"Whaaat? Chris Chambers at an education facility on a Saturday? I hope you don't get smited."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You're welcome. Why are you going to be here?"

"For a girl," he said in a teasing voice.

"Shut up, you don't like girls. You're in love with _me_. I read so in your diary. That pink one. You know which one I'm talking about?"

"You know what, I'm going to kick your ass too. Just so you know."

"Hey, didn't you miss your bus? Do you want a ride home?"

Chris smiled and put his friend in a headlock as they walked towards the front of the school together. "Okay, just as long as you promise you won't try to throw me from the moving vehicle."

"Well, goddammit."


	2. You Wouldn't Like Her

Instead of seeing the girls they wanted to see, when Gordie and Chris pulled up in front of Castle Rock High School, they saw Teddy Duchamp leaning against the bike rack and enjoying a cigarette. While Chris and Gordie's friendship was as tight as it had ever been, maybe even a little stronger, they had drifted away from Teddy. It had been a slow, gradual, necessary process. Teddy had gotten too wild for their likes; always drunk, always getting in trouble with the cops, always stealing. He'd gotten two girls pregnant that people knew of. One had an abortion and the other girl's family sent her to live with her grandmother because they were ashamed of her. Teddy denied ever having anything to do with either of them. Gordie had grown up being disappointed in people who meant a lot to him, and he refused to let a friend like Teddy become a statistic on that list, so he gave up on their friendship. And Chris decided years ago that he wouldn't run around with the crowd that everyone expected him to run with. Even if that meant abandoning a friend that used to make him laugh and make him mad and make him forget about life at home.

They got out of Gordie's truck and warily approached Teddy. "Hey man," Chris called. He didn't want to initiate a conversation, but he didn't want to be rude, either. Whenever the two of them had any sort of conversations, it was always Teddy bragging about what new shit he'd pulled and got away with.

"Hey," Teddy said, breaking into a grin, exhaling cigarette smoke through his nose. "What are you guys doing here? You're not here for Saturday detention are you?"

"No," Chris replied, crossing his arms over his chest, not consciously putting up a barrier between himself and Teddy, but doing it anyway. "I'm here to get help in biology, and Gordie's here for student cou--"

"I am here to pick up chicks," Gordie interrupted frantically.

Chris burst into a smile that was much like an attack of laughter. He gave Gordie a side long glance, and then nodded back to Teddy. "Yep, and Gordie's here for the girls. He's such a sly dog."

"Well, good luck, man," Teddy snorted. "The only girl here that I know of is Jody Evans. She's here practically every Saturday. She's got the biggest mouth of any girl I've ever met, if you know what I mean, hahaha." He received blank looks from the other two boys. "...I don't think she'd have you."

"Oh, damn," Gordie sighed. "Well, we'd better get going. The early bird gets the worm, I've always said."

Teddy nodded, lowering his gaze, and was that disappointment in his eyes? It was hard to tell, but Chris shrugged at Gordie and then asked Teddy, "What are you here for?"

"Detention."

"I gathered. What did you do?"

"Well, honestly, I had an adventure with the US Army."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. You know how they were here on Thursday for recruitment?" Teddy beamed. "I went up to the table and I was like 'Can I have a pencil?' And they were like 'Sure' and then I was like 'Actually can I have TEN?' and they were like 'What do you need ten pencils for?' and I was like 'To keep my grades up to join the national guard after high school.' So then they were like..nods 'Okay, here's twenty.' And so then I was like 'I'm gonna need a lot of lanyards too.' And they were like 'What the hell for?' And I was like 'Because I enjoy lanyards, quite frankly.' And they were like 'One per person.' So then I was like 'What if I tell you a joke?' And they looked at me all fish-eyed. So I proceeded to tell my joke. Do you guys want to hear it?"

"Um, well--" Chris stuttered, knowing Teddy's taste in jokes.

"Okay, so I was like 'How do you get ten dead babies out of a blender?' And they just kept _staring_ at me, so I was like, 'Tortilla chips!' And come on, that's fuckin hilarious, right? That's funny. Then they were like 'You know what can get you a lot of lanyards?' And I was like 'Cat like reflexes?' And they were like 'WRONG' and then I was like 'I LIKE MASH' and they were like 'That doesn't help. You could give us your name and address so we can contact you about the national guard. So I was like 'Wicked!' so I took an application and I said my name was Your Mom and that I lived in Your Bed, in FU, USA, and they got fucking mad and ratted me out to Kinsey, and Kinsey was like 'Psh, I am the principal and you are stupid, you're coming in for all day detention on Saturday, Mister.' But seriously, those army fucks are whiny little pricks, eh? I was just joking."

"Teddy, sometimes you have a way of joking that isn't always very funny for all the parties involved--"

Gordie cut Chris off. Chris' voice was low and gentle, but he knew that Teddy didn't respond well to truth. "That's an awesome story, Teddy. It's a detention well-earned. But we'd better get going. Well, I'd better, anyway. Ass awaits me."

"Okay. See you guys," Teddy said, taking another drag on his cigarette and looking away.

Gordie stole a quick look at Chris as they approached the front doors. Chris looked a little torn up, and the dapples of sunlight flickering over his face didn't shine away the sadness. "You okay?" Gordie asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Chris replied automatically, swinging the door open wide and holding it for Gordie before he went in. "It's just..." He waited for the door to close behind him. "Teddy just..."

"Rains on your parade?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly having a parade, but yeah, he makes me gloomy."

"I know what you mean."

"Yeah?" Chris looked at him with sudden hope. "You do?"

"Well...I think so," Gordie said, unsure if he really did know what Chris meant. "He was our friend and now he's just interested in getting in trouble and stuff."

"And he's proud of it." Chris shrugged. "I don't know. I think it's that he never really got much of a chance in life, you know?"

_Neither did you_, Gordie held himself back from saying.

"And he never had anyone let him know that he had the ability to make his own chances. He just went on screwing up and no one did anything about it. They all let him. I mean, of all people, I should have helped him out."

"Chris--" Gordie tried to interrupt.

"I never pulled him off to the side and said, 'Listen, moron, you're smarter than you and everyone else thinks and you could seriously do something awesome with your life and you don't have to be such an asshole and you're not going to have to drink your life away or call your wife names or hurt your kids or go to jail when you grow up just because that's what your dad did and what everyone thinks you're going to do too.'" Chris shrugged. "He never really listened to me when we were kids but I still think he should have heard it."

"Chris," Gordie said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good friend."

The wind left his spiel and he looked down at Gordie, grateful and tired. He nodded.

"Oh, sorry. Was I supposed to make a lot of noise so you'd know I was coming?" a new voice asked.

Chris and Gordie turned in the direction of the newcomer and Gordie quickly took his hand back. "Pardon?" he blurted.

Jody Evans. Tall and pretty in a you-can-stare-but-you-wouldn't-want-to-take-her-home-to-your-parents kind of way. Her hair was short and her thick glasses were broken on the side and she had a smile that teased its victims but lit up her eyes.

"Oh, nothing, I was just apologizing for walking in on your tender moment," she said with an indifferent shrug.

"Gee, Jody," Gordie said. "Are you sure your skirt's regulation length?"

"It's definitely not," she assured him, swiping a hand over the hem of her linen skirt, which ended long before it hit her knees. "I was getting dressed this morning and I _was_ going to dress appropriately, but then I figured that Kinsey is enough of a perv to send me home early for good behaviour if I accidentally flash him a couple of times."

"Always thinking, aren't you, Jody," Gordie laughed.

"I am." She looked at them appraisingly. "What are you guys doing here? You don't have a secret clubhouse for you to neck in anymore?"

"You know, these homosexual innuendoes are beginning to lead me to believe that you think we are homosexual," Gordie said suspiciously.

She grinned. "I'm just trying to fuck with you."

"Haha, good luck, we're _gay_," Gordie giggled.

Chris punched him. "Speak for yourself! And when you're trying to be sarcastic, don't giggle like a gay little girl!"

Gordie paused, and then slowly pointed his finger at Chris. "Um, that would make me a _lesbian_..." He grinned. "I like lesbians."

"Me too," Chris said hungrily.

"_Anyway_," Jody said.

"Right." Chris nodded. "I'm looking for Elena Lefebvre. She's helping me with Biology."

"Hmm. Haven't seen her." Jody looked at Gordie. "And you?"

"I'm here to meet Tamsin Bradshaw for our hot steamy date."

"I thought you were gay."

"Oh right. She's painting my nails."

"Talking to you stresses me out," Jody said.

"So, you gonna make your move today, Gordo?" Chris asked with a leer.

"Oh, I'll be moving, all right," Gordie assured him. "Lots of movement. Movement all around. Up and down and side to side and--"

Just then, a girl turned the corner and breezed by, scissors and crepe paper bundled up in her arms, all smiles with a blue ribbon in her auburn hair. She aimed her smile at Gordie as she past. "Hi, Gordie."

Gordie stared.

"I'll be in the Home Ec room for whenever you want to get started," she told him, her mega-watt smile never faltering.

"Yes," he squeaked, his eyes following after her as she walked away, a piece of crepe paper streaming along behind her.

"Oh you are so straight," Jody said, staring at him in awe. "There is no doubt in my mind now."

"So much for making my move," Gordie said sadly.

"YOU DIDN'T MOVE AT ALL," Chris cried. "She walks past you and smiles like the GODDESS OF LOVE IN HEAT and you turn to STONE. She was like 'I want you Gordie, come into my pants' and you were like 'Sorry, there is only static in my brain right now and I can't understand basic human behaviour anymore.' I am both disgusted and amused!"

Gordie turned to Chris suddenly with a wild look in his eyes. "AUGHH."

"It's okay, buddy," Chris said sympathetically, putting his arm around Gordie's shoulders. "Maybe she thought your deer-in-the-headlights thing was cute. I did."

"Fuck offff," Gordie grumbled. "I'm going to go to the Home Ec room now."

"Yeah, she's ready when you are," Jody reminded him.

"Good luck, man," Chris laughed as Gordie sauntered away with his head down. If he'd had a tail, it would have been between his legs, most likely. "So, Jody, I guess I'll see you later too. Good luck with the flashing."

"Thanks." She sighed. "I'm stuck here all day with Duchamp, eh? I saw him out front so I figured he was here for DT."

"You figured correctly."

"Graaah."

"You don't like Teddy?"

"About as much as I like the gynocologist."

"Girls don't like going to the gynocologist?" Chris asked, genuinely shocked. "I always thought if I were a girl, I'd go like every Sunday."

"Why Sunday? Isn't that the day you're supposed to go to church and atone for your sins, not try to get cheap thrills at the doctor's office?"

"I would go to church after my appointment."

"Ohhh. You think about this often, don't you?"

"No, only once. When I found out what a gynocologist does. I thought about it for a very long time, though."

"I never knew you that well, Chambers," Jody said. "If we'd never had this conversation, I never would have known what a strange, calculating, messed up little man you really are."

"Well, now you do!" He smiled. "Don't you love Saturday?"


End file.
